I have no doubt that the Marantz is good, perhaps it is better than the Sony. Why don't you simply look at the numbers and take a deep breath.........Sony $1075.00..............Marantz with huge discount.......$4750.00. The Marantz had better be several models ahead of the competition, or you are setting yourself up for a fairly sizable loss when new models come out. SACD is still in it's infancy. You should ask yourself, do you really have enough of a software library to justify the difference between the two (assuming the Marantz IS any better performance). I hope I do not sound harsh, I just had to make this decision myself. I bought the Sony 9000, shamelessly, due to it's low selling price and great DVD image quality.
Marantz SA-1 SACD player....worth it ?
On market for a SACD player...maybe. Marantz SA-1 SACD retails for $7500 , can get one brand new from a local dealer for $4750. Is it worth it? Or better off with a Sony? Or should I just wait since I have zero super audio CDs and 12000 CDs. Thank you for the input.